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Arencibia trying to get on track at plate

Arencibia trying to get on track at plate

TORONTO -- J.P. Arencibia continues to search for his stroke at the plate as the season nears the two-week mark.

Arencibia entered play on Tuesday night hitting just .071 (2-for-28) with one homer and five RBIs. But his manager isn't about to panic because of the slow start.

"I think there are times, he'll pull off some balls, that in Spring Training we saw him drive the ball into right-centre field with a little bit more consistency," John Farrell said. "As we've seen on numerous occasions, when you start off with zeroes to start the season, all of a sudden those numbers can get a little skewed -- because if you take the same nine-game stretch in July, it might not have nearly the visibility that it does now."

Arencibia broke a franchise record in 2011 for most home runs by a catcher, with 23. That production continued in the spring, as he tied for the team lead in homers with four. But so far, that hasn't carried over into the regular season.

The native of Miami has always been a streaky hitter -- as most power hitters are -- and Farrell believes he needs to just go back to trying to use the whole field.

"I think he has overswung the bat at times, he's gotten long, but I don't think it's because he has been focused more on one area and had it take away from another area," Farrell said when asked if the problems could be related to focusing so much on defense.

"There may be the tendency to want to do too much, at times -- whether that causes him to pull off some balls, or his swing to get a little bit long, little bit more swing and miss."